France at the 1896 Summer Olympics

France at the 1896 Summer Olympics
IOC code	FRA
NOC	French National Olympic and Sports Committee
Website	www.franceolympique.com (in French)
in Athens
Competitors	12 in 6 sports
Medals Ranked 4th	Gold 5 Silver 4 Bronze 2 Total 11
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Twelve athletes from France competed in six sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics. France won the fourth-most gold medals with 5 and the fourth-most total medals with 11. Cycling was the sport in which the French competitors had the most success, as they completely dominated the field. The French team had 27 entries in 18 events, winning 11 medals.

Medalists[]

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Paul Masson	Cycling	Men's 10 km	April 11
			Men's time trial	April 11
			Men's sprint	April 11
Gold	Léon Flameng	Cycling	Men's 100 km	April 8
Gold	Eugène-Henri Gravelotte	Fencing	Men's foil	April 7
Silver	Alexandre Tuffère	Athletics	Men's triple jump	April 6
Silver	Léon Flameng	Cycling	Men's 10 km	April 11
Silver	Henri Callot	Fencing	Men's foil	April 7
Silver	Joanni Perronet	Fencing	Men's masters foil	April 7
Bronze	Albin Lermusiaux	Athletics	Men's 1500 m	April 7
Bronze	Léon Flameng	Cycling	Men's sprint	April 11

Results by event[]

Athletics[]

The five French athletes won 2 medals between them. Tuffère appears to have entered the 100 metres but not started; some sources have André Tournois in the first heat of the 100 metres instead of Grisel.^[1][2][3][4] Grisel entered the triple jump, but did not start.

Track and road events

Athlete	Events	Heat		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Adolphe Grisel	100 m	Unknown	Unknown	Did not advance
Adolphe Grisel	400 m	Unknown	Unknown	Did not advance
Frantz Reichel		Unknown	Unknown	Did not advance
Albin Lermusiaux	800 m	2:16.6	1 Q	DNS
Georges de la Nézière		Unknown	Unknown	Did not advance
Albin Lermusiaux	1500 m	n/a		4:37.0
Frantz Reichel	110 m hurdles	Unknown	3	Did not advance
Albin Lermusiaux	marathon	N/A		DNF

Field events

Athlete	Events	Final
		Result	Rank
Adolphe Grisel	Discus throw	Unknown	5–9
Alexandre Tuffère	Triple jump	12.70
Adolphe Grisel	Long jump[4]	5.83	5
Alexandre Tuffère		5.98	4

Cycling[]

Leon Flameng and Paul Masson

France dominated the cycling events, taking 4 of the 6 gold medals. Three were won by Paul Masson who won every event he entered, with Léon Flameng adding the fourth as well as a silver and a bronze. One of the two won each event that a Frenchman contested; the two gold medals won by other countries were in competitions that Masson and Flameng did not enter.

Cyclist	Event	Time / Distance	Rank
Paul Masson	Time trial	24.0
	Sprint	4:58.2
	10 km	17:54.2
Léon Flameng	Time trial	27.0	5
	Sprint	Unknown
	10 km	17:54.8
	100 km	3:08:19.2

Fencing[]

Group of French and Greek fencers at 1896 Summer Olympics

The final sword match 1896 Summer Olympics

The French fencers were held in high regard prior to the Games; Gravelotte and Callot validated those expectations in the amateur foil competition. Each went undefeated in their pool, advancing to face each other in the final. Gravelotte won the first-to-3 bout. Surprisingly, however, Perronet lost to the Greek Leonidas Pyrgos in the only match of the masters competition.

Fencer	Event	Record		Touches		Round robin	Final	Rank
		Wins	Losses	For	Against
Eugène-Henri Gravelotte	Foil	4	0	12	7	1st Group B	Callot (FRA) W 3–1
Henri Callot		3	1	11	7	1st Group A	Gravelote (FRA) L 3–1
Henri Delaborde		1	2	5	8	3rd Group A	Did not advance	5
Joanni Perronet	Masters foil	0	1	1	3	N/A	Pyrgos (GRE) L 3–1

Gymnastics[]

Grisel competed in the parallel bars in the gymnastics program. The competitions had no formal scoring, the judges merely selecting the winner and runner-up. Grisel was neither in this competition.

Artistic[]

Shooting[]

Lermusiaux entered the military rifle event in the shooting program. His score and placing are unknown.

Tennis[]

Only the first initial and last name of the French tennis player in 1896 is known. He was defeated in the first round of the singles tournament.

Player	Event	First round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
J. Defert	Singles	Kasdaglis (GRE) L	Did not advance

References[]

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [1])
• Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [2])
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.